Heat Alert: NWS Warns over 100 Million Americans Under Heat Advisories This Week Due to Heat Wave

Heat alerts in the form of excessive heat warnings or heat advisories are in place for more than 100 million people across the United States this week, according to the National Weather Service (NWS).

The regions affected by the scorching temperatures include over 20 states in the Southern Great Plains and Northeast US.

In an extended forecast, US weather authorities estimated that most of the US population will be subject to similar heat alerts in the course of the next seven days, with temperatures rising above 90 degrees Fahrenheit.

Meanwhile, other parts of the North American nation are expected to have their all-time high temperatures to be broken as temperatures could reach past 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

The high temperatures are being cause by a renewed massive heat wave that is enveloping the US as of Tuesday evening, July 19.

The extreme weather event occurs as the country has entered its summer season, which approximately spans from June to September.

The heat dome in the US is similar to the ongoing heat wave wreaking havoc in the UK and across Europe for more than a week already.

Wildfires have been reported in multiple European countries like France, Spain, Portugal.

Similar natural disasters have been reported as far as North Africa, especially in Morocco.

US Heat Alerts

The so-called "dangerous heat" will continue through midweek in the Central US, South US, and the Northeast, as confirmed by the NWS' Weather Prediction Center (WPC).

Triple digit temperatures are expected again to impact the southern Plains and the lower Mississippi Valley, as well as upper 90s extending into the lower Ohio Valley.

In a short-range forecast, the WPC stated that scorching heat will be the major weather story across the country for at least in the next few days.

Due to the prolonged heat wave, over 80% of the US population or approximately 265 million Americans could see continuance of such weather trend in the next seven days, according to CNN.

CNN Meteorologist Mike Saenz said record-breaking extreme temperatures have been recorded already in Abilene, Texas, and Oklahoma.

There were no immediate reports of heat-related deaths across the US from the latest heat dome.

In 2021, hundreds of people died in the Pacific Northwest, including in the areas of Washington and State.

Heat and Dry Conditions

In a July 11 report, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said that the US was dominated by an unusual heat and dry conditions in June, contributing to damages caused by natural disasters of immense magnitude.

Experts from the NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information said the month of June marked the onset of a very warm and dry of the meteorological summer for the US.

The report shows last month's temperatures in the contiguous US was approximately 70.7 degrees Fahrenheit, which makes it the 15th warmest June the country has ever faced in the past 128 years.

A collective weather and climate disasters, including damaging hail, tornado outbreaks, and extreme drought, has led to separate billion-dollar damage this year alone.